Samsung is top Asian brand

9 July 2013

SINGAPORE: Samsung is Asia's top brand, with a further five consumer electronics brands appearing in the top ten, according to a new report.

Nielsen surveyed 400 consumers online in each of ten markets in the region, as well as 800 in India and 1,200 in China, for Campaign Asia-Pacific's 2013 Asia's Top 1000 Brands report, and ranked brands across 14 categories according to the responses.

Samsung topped the overall list, ahead of Apple and Sony in the second and third spots. Three more electronics brands, Panasonic, LG and Canon took the fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.

"We've come a long way in our brand-building efforts, but we are not resting on our laurels," noted Ambrish Jain, Samsung's head of marketing, regional corporate and brand marketing, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

"We're not afraid to take risks and we are constantly innovating in the way we connect with consumers, generate buzz for our product launches and the way we go to market," he added.

Nestlé, the food and beverage business, interrupted the procession of consumer electronics brands at the top of the rankings, being placed fourth.

Sportswear brands Nike and Adidas were in eighth and tenth positions, respectively, while luxury brand Chanel featured at ninth.

Samsung's leading position was achieved with an adspend of $1.3bn across the region, almost twice as much as Apple and Sony combined.

And Nike placed higher than rival Adidas, despite the latter spending more than three times as much on advertising, at $177m.

Some of the heaviest expenditure on advertising came from the household and personal care sector. L'Oréal spent $2.5bn and was ranked 29th, behind Johnson & Johnson (16th spending $447m) and Dove (27th spending $853m).

Other sectors also showed some wide disparities between the ranking achieved and the amounts spent.

The highest-ranked restaurant was Starbucks, which spent a mere $6m. The outlay at 21st-placed McDonald's was $1.2bn while KFC, in 59th place, spent $1.6bn.

Coca-Cola spent almost twice as much as rival Pepsi, with its $861m helping it to 14th spot. Pepsi, by contrast, was back in 81st place.